Health Net Selects IBM for IT Infrastructure Services Agreement

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that on August 19, 2008 it entered into a five-year information technology (IT) infrastructure services agreement, in excess of $300 million, with Health Net, Inc. (NYSE: HNT). As part of the agreement, IBM will manage Health Net's entire IT infrastructure for substantial cost savings and increased data center reliability.

"This is an important step in making Health Net more competitive and a key component of our operations strategy to increase our capabilities while reducing administrative costs and improving efficiency," said James E. Woys, Health Net's chief operating officer. "By partnering with IBM, Health Net will receive benefits including reduction of IT costs and operational risk while gaining access to IBM's global resources and technologies."

"We are confident that our extensive history in IT services and industry experience with healthcare payers will directly benefit Health Net's business and customers," said Chris Nicoletti, IBM vice president, health care and life sciences industry.

IBM will provide full IT infrastructure management services including: data center services, IT security management, help desk and desk side support. AT&T (NYSE: T), an IBM partner, will provide network, voice and data management services.

"AT&T is delighted to join forces with IBM to deliver networking services to Health Net," said Ron Spears, Group President, AT&T Global Business Services.

About Health Net

Health Net, Inc. is among the nation's largest publicly traded managed health care companies. Its mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. The company's health plans and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to approximately 6.7 million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net's behavioral health subsidiary, MHN, provides mental health benefits to approximately 6.9 million individuals in all 50 states. The company's subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.

For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit the company's Web site at www.healthnet.com.

About IBM

For more information, visit www.ibm.com/services.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list and No. 1 on America's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

Health Net Cautionary Statements

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical information provided herein, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements and as such are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on management's analysis, judgment, belief and expectation only as of the date hereof, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Without limiting the foregoing statements including the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "may," "should," "could," "estimate," "intend" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially due to, among other things, rising health care costs, negative prior period claims reserve developments, trends in medical care ratios, unexpected utilization patterns or unexpectedly severe or widespread illnesses, membership declines, rate cuts affecting our Medicare or Medicaid business, issues relating to provider contracts, litigation costs, regulatory issues, operational issues, health care reform and general business conditions. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risks discussed in the "Risk Factors" section, included within the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Health Net undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any of its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this release.

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